Sir Trevor and wife split

Sir Trevor McDonald is living apart from his wife, Jo, with the couple believed to have agreed to a trial separation.

Until now, the two have managed to keep their marriage troubles secret from all but a few close friends.

However, the 65-year-old ITN anchorman has said in interviews that his wife resents the amount of time he devotes to his work.

Lady McDonald, a former ITN production assistant, is West Indian-born Sir Trevor's second wife. The couple married 18 years ago after an office romance and have one son, Jamie, 15.

Sir Trevor, who has won more awards than any other British broadcaster, has refused to discuss the state of his marriage. However, he has moved out of the family home in South West London into a nearby flat.

He continues to present ITV's 10.30pm news bulletin and the twice-weekly Tonight With Trevor McDonald show.

He is a frequent visitor to the family home and the couple are said to be confident the marriage will survive.

Sir Trevor met his first wife, Beryl, at a cricket match in his native Trinidad. They married in 1964 and had two children, Joanne, 30, and Tim, 34.

They divorced in 1985 after a long separation and a year later Sir Trevor and his second wife married. Beryl later said: 'He found himself a younger, betterlooking-girl.' Sir Trevor once said: 'My wife is occasionally frightfully jealous of the time my work involves.'

Asked by the same interviewer if she had fallen passionately in love with him, he replied: 'Oh God, no. I think she thinks it was a frightful mistake, but I've got no idea.'

The son of an oil refinery worker, Sir Trevor started his television career reading the news in Trinidad in 1962.

Seven years later, he moved to London to work for the BBC World Service before joining ITN in 1973.

The most memorable moments of his career include the first British interview with Nelson Mandela after his release from prison in 1990 and the only British television interview with Saddam Hussein.